Adventures with Millie the Rock Climbing Cat

Time spent with cats is never wasted. - Sigmund Freud

Friends with paws ... 

"Millie has all the qualities a good climbing partner should have. She never complains, no matter how bad it gets. She always wants to go higher, and she pushes herself hard. But she also knows when to stop. When she’s done, she’s done. She’ll find a cave or climb a tree and won’t move until she's rested." - Craig Armstrong on his climbing partner who also climbs with her friend Kenneth. 

More pics and details can be found at Backcountry

 

Millie Climbing. Photo Credit - Craig Armstrong

I love her pictures and the fact she's even doing a thing I am not really inclined to pursue. But it would appear she and her partner are having a ball.

A nice piece about Millie on Huffpo


There are amazing partners who accompany us on our life journeys and the really cool thing is  they aren't what anyone else would consider ordinary or typical companions.

No. These life partners and adventure seekers are pets and animal friends. And the joy they bring along for the ride is worth every effort it takes to accommodate their traveling. With them in tow, we are challenged to create new ways to view the world and different assessments of the discoveries and circumstances we find.

Pets/animals just bring us to a new level of human being, where doing isn't the most important element. Being becomes so much more intense and electric. We know the world in a different way and connect to extraordinary moments we could easily have overlooked if that companion had not been part of our journey.

The love in life is our investment. And when we invest it in beings who are often considered to be less worthy on the societal scale of merit we recover the true wonder in life. There is no less worthy and there is no other. Each is connected in ways beyond our knowing to a oneness we can sense.

The heart is where the dots meet. Other is one who simply chose to show up in a different package to see who would be self aware enough to open the present. 

Today is a day like any other day, and yet, with my pets and the presence of the incredible animals of the world that day has a sparkle, a light, a glow, a jello-y whimsy that makes it special beyond words. When I carry that out into the world I remember we are all an amazing miracle, wrapped up in mystery, each and every one. And life - well - it's just a grand thing to behold. Wow! Climb on!

Celebrating Millie - the rock climbing cat. Here's a page with lots of pics. Makes me want to get out and hike. However, I may have to settle for paddling with the dogs. Chloe is not an enthusiastic outdoor adventure cat. She does however, enjoy activities that involve squirrel encounters.

Might be a lure to get her onto a nearby sidewalk and that's just fine. She's the cat who chose me. I'll accept her terms for adventure and haul her along on vacations to the in-laws. (She prefers flute music for long rides.) Fortunately, she also adores my husband Andy.

Thank you, Craig and Millie.